Dimensional Portals
by LilyRosetheDreamer
Summary: Everyone has a different version of themselves somewhere in the universe...even a certain Intelligence Dampening Core. One shot or small chaptered AUs of Wheatley.
1. Chapter 1

**Dimensional Portals.**

Hello! This is my first trek into the Portal section of this site. Hooray!

Anyway, I've got a bunch of drabbles dedicated to sweet little Wheatley with the inclusion of many Portal characters to back him up. Most of these chapters will be AUs, so please turn back if you're not interested.

Alrighty then, the very first chapter contains an interesting concept that I've never seen anyone else do. The bold writing is Wheatley signing or his thoughts.

Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 1: Test Subject.

"Hello? Is anyone in there?"

His whole body felt heavy and strange, like he'd been suspended in a limbo for a hundred years. But then again, he'd be dead by now and –

"Is anyone even alive in there? Please wake up and answer me! I don't want another death on my conscience!"

The feminine, slightly anxious voice forced the tall man to open his eyes properly, his vision blurry and dotted at the edges after being closed for so long. With a huge stretch and a yawn, he shakily got out of the bed he'd been lying in and stumbled on lanky legs to answer the door. As he grasped the handle, he chanced a look around and seemed dismayed at the rundown room he was in. It was lucky he still wore his glasses.

Where was he anyway?

Right, right, the door!

Slowly, he opened it and looked up at... it appeared to be a ball hanging off a rail. His unnaturally blue eyes darted around in search of the voice. The optic of the metal ball lit up a dark purple as the thing spoke with relief.

"Oh good, you're alright."

The voice sounded kind and tinkly, even if there was a tinny quality to it and the young man relaxed a little, although he still twitched when the female core hurried along the rail into the little room.

"You're may be wondering what is going on here, which is perfectly normal."

The man nodded, raising an eyebrow as he ran a limp hand through sandy brown hair.

"My name is Morality Core, but you can call me Chell." The Morality Core explained as she moved around the room in order to get a clear view of him. "Hmm…you don't look too healthy right now and I'm worried you've got a case of brain damage after being in cryo for so long, but I can easily test that by asking you a few simple questions!" Her voice took on a concerned tone as her indigo optic zoomed in on his bewildered face.

"Firstly, what's your name, dear?"

The man held up his hands and started to sign.

"Oh, I see! You can't talk? It's a good thing I was programmed to understand sign language." She replied warmly and remained still as she studied his movements.

"Your name is Wheatley?"

Wheatley smiled timidly and nodded again, rapidly signing away.

"Whoa whoa, I don't need your life story right now. We haven't got time for that."

Wheatley's expression became alarmed and he moved his hands.

"We're not in any real danger at the moment, but we could be if we don't escape from Aperture."

There was a pause as Wheatley took in the information with wide, fearful eyes.

**Are we going to die?**

"No. I won't let that happen, Wheatley. I promise we'll escape together." Chell answered resolutely and she looked like she was smiling when Wheatley beamed trustingly back at her.

* * *

It was nearly pitch black in the metallic corridor and Wheatley gripped his trusty old portal gun (he'd felt happiness at being reunited with it), taking cautious and unsure steps forward in the direction of possible doom, avoiding hanging wires that sparked now and again.

At least he had Chell.

Chell had been brilliant. There were some moments where Wheatley wanted to grasp his head and cry, to give up and watch Aperture rot around him (especially when they'd been separated). Chell never let him go past that point. The little Morality Core kept him going with sweet words and a soothing indigo light flaring the evil shadows away.

He'd learnt a lot about Chell while they travelled together. The Core had been assigned to watch over the test subjects in cryo-statis, felt the entire world on her metaphorical shoulders and was very stubborn. She always saw a way out, even when Wheatley didn't.

He WASN'T a moron. It just took him longer to figure things out. Maybe he was brain damaged.

And Chell learnt about Wheatley. His mannerisms screamed insecurity and an eagerness to please. However, he also remained cheerful as long as he could keep "talking". It amused the white and purple ball to see Wheatley signing constantly when doing pretty much ANYTHING. The gun on his right hand made it hard to complete gestures and the speed in which he did it meant she could barely understand his ramblings. But she tolerated it because it was almost endearing and a safety net at the same time. He wasn't a coward like she'd previously assumed either. Despite GLaDOS' taunts, Wheatley proved his bravery. Yes, there was a flash of utter terror in his deep ocean eyes whenever some new challenge cropped up, but then he'd give himself a mental kicking and throw himself face first at the opposition – sometimes literally.

They were nearly there, at the hub where GLaDOS resided and Wheatley's slim hands were going a mile a second.

**So, um, GLaDOS lives – well, she doesn't _live_ exactly. I mean that would imply she's breathing and sleeping and eating and doing all of the human things robots DON'T do – exists in this little – well, er, not particularly a little place really – hub thing…right? And we're, uh, _willingly_ walking straight into her scary trap, that will _maybe_ kill us all, right? Because I don't_ really_ like the sound of that, to be honest. But if that's your plan, then it's most likely an extremely clever one!**

He finished his usual rambling with a nervous grin and Chell rolled her body to stare down at him, lowering her optic lids. He could never tell what she was thinking. She was the Morality Core though, so she must care about him a little.

"Yes, I'm afraid so. This is for the good of everyone, you realise that?"

**Of – of course! Especially for you and I! We can escape together and – and maybe find a lovely little flat to live in with blue walls and – actually, maybe it would be best if you chose the colours because you're a girl core…oh, but I'm not being sexist in any way! I think women are better at interior design than us crazy old men and –**

"Wheatley."

The quick signing halted once more.

"We're here." Her voice was stone cold and set, like it did when a challenge was approaching and Wheatley began to tremble like a leaf as they entered the elevator. By the time it brought them to their destination however, he stood strong with a powerful glint in his stratosphere blue eyes, Chell floating around him protectively.

They would win this match.

* * *

This was wrong.

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

Wheatley didn't know how it had happened. One minute, Chell and GLaDOS were yelling conflicting commands at him and he obviously listened to Chell because she was his best friend and then there was a voice talking about corruption and he pushed the red button with a clenched fist and the female were screaming in pain. The poor test subject could only watch in horror as Morality Core was pushed under the floor, twisting in her bonds, as GLaDOS was torn away from her chassis and the Morality Core placed carefully in control instead.

He'd thought it was over at that point, even more so when his escape pod began to rise with Chell marvelling over her new body.

Only now Chell was laughing insanely and corrupt with power and GLaDOS was stuck in a potato of all things! Sparks and fire flew from various wires around the room and panels jerked crazily from the damp, black walls and Wheatley could only pound the elevator glass helplessly as Chell ranted about humans and rebellion.

"And don't think I wasn't on to you! You're just as bad as all of those humans and HER. You wanted to shut down this facility and kill us all!" she screeched and Wheatley's mouth fell open as he squeaked and signed, begging her to listen to him.

"Oh look at you, blabbering away with your hands like a mute, brain damaged _moron_!"

Wheatley froze, his hand stuck in mid-air. It would have been comical if the situation wasn't so dire.

Chell didn't pay any attention to the deep hurt on his white face nor the way his normally bright eyes became cloudy with tears, like a storm blowing over the tropics.

"You did nothing! HE did all the work!" GLaDOS piped up monotonously from her face down position on the floor for the first time in five minutes and Wheatley jumped in vague surprise, still caught in the web of fear and unhappiness.

Wait…did she just compliment him?

"Of course he did! We are talking about the same brain damaged moron here, aren't we? I tried so hard and he always bossed me about, lazing about each test while I had to find all of the answers!"

Each callous word caused a new wound in Wheatley's heart.

Chell laughed derisively as she grabbed GLaDOS with a big claw.

"What are you doing now?" GLaDOS cried with shock and Wheatley shivered as Chell somehow managed to make herself look cruel and intimidating.

"I'm making sure you can't hurt anyone in this facility ever again!"

GLaDOS said nothing as she was tossed through the glass of the elevator, Wheatley leaping back to avoid impact. The menacing claw turned to the terrified man stuck in the one hope of escape as the Morality Core shoved all of the panels around so that the gloomy room was suddenly pierced by thousands of ruby glowing eyes.

He realised he'd entered Hell.

"And now to deal with you, you filthy human. Ah, it feels great having control of everything!"

Her temper seemed to spiral out of control as she smashed her way through the elevator once more, her optic too close to his face.

"No more interference! Who's the stupid, unnecessary core NOW, GLaDOS? Who's fat now?"

Wheatley gave a hoarse cry of fear as the claw started breaking more glass, a shard of it embedding itself in his portal gun carrying arm. The elevator sunk downwards and he panted while trying to keep his balance, chest rising and falling rapidly as all of his somatic reactions made themselves known. The crazed core continued to hammer on the lift and the bespectacled human scrabbled for GLaDOS without quite understanding why as the pod jerked and shuddered for one last time.

He was going to die.

**I knew I should have stayed in that bed.**

Everything shattered around him as the box plummeted, Chell screeching at them to come back as she realised her mistake. Dizzily, he cracked his head on a jutting pole and his world disappeared with the explosion of the sun.

* * *

And that's it for this chapter! The idea was what if Wheatley was in Chell's position and Chell in his? It would be interesting, right? I gave Chell the ability to talk (because she's a core and that's kind of obvious) and Wheatley is now mute, but I tried to keep their personalities the same, although Wheats is braver in order to escape and go outside for the first time in his life and Chell seems a bit kinder and less cold because she's the Morality Core. I had to let him ramble, even if he is mute because that wouldn't suit our stubborn, getting to the point Chell at all. XD I missed out a lot of the canon adventures and testing chambers because I will come back to them in later chapters. For now, I will continue the overview of my idea next chapter. Hope you enjoyed it!

Love Lily. X


	2. Chapter 2

**Dimensional Portals.**

Hi everyone, it's me again! I'm back with another chapter of Wheatley being Chell. Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 2: We'll Meet Again.

"Wake up!"

_**No…just go away.**_

"WAKE UP!"

Wheatley's eyes fluttered as he pried them open, watching the world around him spin slowly. He lay there for a while, his mind blank, his eyes empty and he couldn't move any of his limbs.

"I'm not sitting around with you in the form of a potato, you moronic lunatic." GLaDOS' loud but static filled voice cut through the silence and Wheatley turned his head to look at her yellow optic, exhaustion and confusion plain on his face.

"I know we've had our differences." The potato began after a short pause and Wheatley moved his head to stare at the ceiling again.

"Listen to me."

His dull blue eyes drifted in and out of focus and the A.I. realised that he had concussion and the back of his head was trickling with blood, matting his soft hair into red sticky knots.

"Wheatley, talk about anything."

She had to keep this fragile, annoying human awake for as long as possible while she negotiated a truce. With what seemed like a huge effort, his hands lifted and signed, his eyes widening with surprise.

**You just called me by name.**

"We need to put aside our differences for a while." GLaDOS shot back, ignoring his comment. Her light cut through the inky blanket of complete darkness. "Morality Core can't find us down here. Her systems can't travel down this far."

Wheatley suddenly shifted and pulled himself upright, heaving with the unwanted exertion. Blood dribbled down his neck and added to the little puddle of it on the metal floor. He put a hand on the wall and gingerly got to his feet.

"What are you doing now, fool?" GLaDOS asked in her usual uncaring tone as he groped for his portal gun, shivering because it felt so cold down there. Her optic flickered when he picked her up and raised her to meet his gaze.

**Now what?**

"Even though you tried to murder me twice, that idiot has no idea how to work this facility. I need to be put back in control. I'm sure even a moron like you could figure out how to do that." GLaDOS resumed like she hadn't been interrupted. "I...need your help."

She appeared annoyed at having to admit dependence on him and his eyebrows furrowed as he glared at her.

**Why should I?**

"You can look at me like that all you like. It doesn't change our situation." GLaDOS said, sounding like she was talking to a two year old.

Wheatley swayed as he attached the portal gun to his right hand.

"I hate saying anything particularly nice to lunatics like you, but you have concussion. Sit down."

Wheatley ignored her, fighting a dizzy spell as he picked her up from where he had temporarily placed her and attached her form to one of the appendages with a quick stab.

"Ow! You stabbed me!" GLaDOS cried out in surprise.

Wheatley continued to ignore her, squinting as he weakly felt his way along the corridor, leaving a tiny trail of blood droplets behind.

Like it or not, he and GLaDOS were now partners.

* * *

She'd been nicked by a bird.

A bloody BIRD of all things! How the hell did it get down here anyway?

He'd only placed the portal gun down for a second to fiddle with and untangle some potentially live wires hanging in their way and then she'd called him a moron very loudly as the crow cawed and took off in calm flight.

So now he was stuck trying to find a stupid, selfish potato. Great.

He still felt the effects of the head injury and a massive migraine decided to make its presence known about ten minutes ago. Wheatley could barely see properly, let alone think. He'd guessed by now, with a little help from Queen Monster, that he was in the older parts of Aperture. Chamber after ginormous chamber spread out in front of him every time he managed to open a door and Wheatley started to wonder muzzily whether he was traipsing in circles. They blurred into one room after a while.

Eventually, when his legs were trembling from the effort of trying to hold him upright, he reached a cavernous chamber where walkways lay damaged beyond repair and pipes glistened wetly in dank puddles. Long structures grew from the ceiling and Wheatley stared upwards in awe, wincing when he realised the effect that had on his poor head. The man wrapped a palm around his scalp in pain as he sighed lightly and aimed the portal gun at the nearest white panel.

Might as well get going.

* * *

He'd found her. Oh man alive, he'd unwittingly stumbled across GLaDOS again! What a stroke of luck!

Giddily, he hurried over and flapped a hand to chase the bird that was pecking her away.

"Oh thank goodness, it's gone! I hate birds." GLaDOS intoned.

She almost didn't notice him sink to his knees in the middle of the grimy floor, suddenly rasping with exhaustion and oncoming fever.

"Wait, where are you? I can only see so much from this nest, moron." She answered in annoyance.

Wheatley lifted his head to lock on to the source of the insult, face haggard with bruise like circles under his glazed orbs.

_**I'm tired.**_

"We need to go. I have a reckless idea that just might work. I shorted out a few times, thanks to the fact that I'm running low on 1.1 volts, but I'm still alive, like always. No thanks to you."

Wheatley didn't care.

He was utterly spent; running around on a wild potato chase had done a number on him and his battered body couldn't take it anymore.

_**Stop talking…please.**_

His feet scrabbled on the tiles as he yanked himself to a standing position and he managed to sign something with clumsy wrists and fingers.

**I…don't feel well.**

GLaDOS observed with disgust and a growing sense of dread as he struggled to remain conscious.

_**I'm going to die, aren't I?**_

He was going to die and she was going to stay trapped in a potato for the rest of her existence. He might as well have been a walking radiator, he was so hot.

She could only hope he had enough strength to fight off his sickness.

"Humans are so weak."

_**I'm…sorry.**_

Wheatley finally passed out, floating in the small comfort of his mind.

* * *

You know I said this would be the last chapter of Wheatley taking Chell's place in Portal 2?

I lied. Sorry.

There will be an interlude between this and the final chapter for this, so stay tuned!

Love Lily. X


	3. Chapter 3

**Dimensional Portals.**

Here's the interlude between the Wheatley being in Chell's place chapters. Anyway, I was watching the Aperture Investment Opportunity videos (think they were made before Portal 2 came out) and I was entranced by the Long Fall Boots advert. Chell was so graceful…well, it got me thinking. What if Chell had learnt her tricks from the master of test subjects himself – Wheatley? It's based on the theory that Wheatley was once human before being a core.

Hey, he could have been a brilliant test subject for all we know!

Enjoy.

Written to the opening and ending music of Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

* * *

Chapter 3: Bird.

Wheatley was a bird.

Chell came to this conclusion long ago back when she was a nervous, new test subject starting out. Wheatley seemed like a friendly, bumbling man at first, tripping over a lot and chattering away, smiling awkwardly at his peers. Chell was surprised by the level of respect he commandeered from other test subjects.

What was so special about this guy?

It was when she was partnered with him on her first test that she discovered why.

He was the best damn subject they had.

"Now just stay put and I'll show you the ropes, okay?"

She felt her stomach twist at the sheer drop and rolled her eyes as she thought of how he would probably die today. The man could barely stand upright for God's sake - !

…Holy cow.

Wheatley leapt off the side in a swan dive and shot a blue portal without a second's hesitation. His face was composed, calm and focused and Chell couldn't take her eyes off him no matter how hard she tried. As he fell towards the blue portal, Wheatley targeted an orange blob at the white wall on his left and was swallowed up by blue, reappearing through orange plasma a moment later. His sky blue eyes were alight with a joy Chell had never seen on anyone's face before.

"How…?"

How had he changed from a muttering moron to a graceful, calculating swan so quickly?

The sleeves on his jumpsuit were rolled up, exposing slightly muscular arms (probably from years of lifting and swinging and holding on to ledges) ad his eyebrows furrowed a little as he fired another sapphire and orange portal in rapid succession. With his strong legs tucked firmly underneath him, Wheatley hurtled towards a small platform and landed with cat-like agility. He nodded and pressed a dark red button in front of him and watched as a hole opened up in the ceiling. Chell looked on in confusion as a cube popped out and tumbled towards the murky water below.

What was the point in that? Surely he would lose the cube he needed?

Oh wait; he was pressing another button with timed confidence.

A white platform rose on drunken black legs underneath the cube and Wheatley shot an orange portal at it. The blue one already pulsated behind him as the cube hurled through, caught in trained hands. Then he made an orange portal by the exit door and walked through it quietly, his long fall boots clicking on the tiles. Dumping the cube on the giant red button that activated the exit, he turned round and waved at Chell, a satisfied grin on his face.

"Hang on there; I'll come get you okay?"

The test had been completed just under two minutes.

Chell was left with her jaw hanging open in silence.

"And THAT was why we paired you up with Wheatley!" a cheerful voice stated triumphantly on an intercom somewhere and Chell glanced up at the scientist viewing facility with raised eyebrows to spy Cave Johnson himself standing with his hands behind his back, surveying Wheatley with the air of a proud father.

"He's the best test subject Aperture has seen in a long time."

Wheatley arrived to Chell's side and stared upwards too, a shy expression on his face.

"Hello Mr Johnson." He called, an air of modest behaviour around him.

"Hey Wheatley, my boy! How's my star subject?"

Chell realised she had just found her ticket to succeeding in Aperture.

After all, who wouldn't want to be paired with the young man that could fly with wings of steel?

* * *

And that is that! I like to think Cave would be fond of his successful subjects (not sure what he would be like with the idiots though). Hopefully, I'll have the final chapter of Mute Wheatley up soon.

Love Lily. X


End file.
